Bird flu vaccine made in powder form

December 26, 2007

A researcher in the Netherlands has created an avian flu vaccine in powder form.

The powdered form of the drug could prove to be a great weapon against avian flu since it can be stored and transported at room temperature. Current liquid vaccines need to be refrigerated, making it harder to transport into poor and developing countries, Radio Netherlands reported Tuesday.

Jean-Pierre Amorij of the University of Groningen, the man behind the idea, said a powder flu vaccine would be the only means of preventing many deaths in the case of a serious epidemic.

"The powder has particular advantages when it comes to transport and preservation because it can be kept at room temperature. The current flu vaccines are in liquid form, which means that you need refrigeration to transport and store them. This is an enormous problem in the developing countries," he said.

Patients could one day self-administer vaccines using a needleless, pill-sized technology that jet-releases a stream of vaccine inside the mouth, according to a proof-of-concept study conducted at UC Berkeley.

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